The Salado in Phoenix

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Archaeology Café – Phoenix Underground. Knowledge seekers of every kind are welcome at Archaeology Café, where experts share their latest research on Phoenix’s deep and diverse history in a jargon-free zone. Archaeologists Glen Rice and Jeffery Clark will join us for lively discussion and debate about The Salado in Phoenix: Point/Counterpoint.

Presented by Archaeology Southwest, a nonprofit organization working across the Southwest to explore and protect the places of our past, Archaeology Café is an informal forum where adults can learn more about the Southwest’s deep history and speak directly to experts. At Archaeology Café, we break down the static, jargon-laden dynamic of traditional lectures, and have an expert share some ideas with the group in ways that get discussion going. (Food and drink make things a little livelier, too.)

Much recent archaeological research has focused on what archaeologists refer to as the Salado period, approximately A.D. 800 to 1450. This was a period of population migration and movement across the Southwest. This movement of northern peoples into the southern Southwest initiated a series of dramatic changes—in how people lived, where they lived, what they believed, and even their ability to survive. Migrants and local groups had to find ways to live together, or at least co-exist as neighbors. Archaeologists don’t all agree on the interpretation of what they have uncovered about this dynamic time period. Drs. Rice and Clark will discuss what we know, (and think we know) about this era in Phoenix history. Expect some lively, yet respectful, disagreements!

Glen E. Rice, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University and was a co-owner of Rio Salado Archaeology LLC following his retirement from ASU. Rice specializes in the Hohokam culture. He has overseen numerous excavations in the Phoenix basin, including many associated with Arizona Department of Transportation freeway construction near Hohokam sites.

Dr. Jeffery Clark has been a Preservation Archaeologist at Archaeology Southwest for sixteen years. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. Jeff received his Ph.D. (1997) and M.A. (1990) from the University of Arizona and his B.A. (1983) from Cornell University. His research assesses the scale and impact of human migration, focusing on the Salado Phenomenon in the late pre-contact U.S. Southwest.

We gather at around 5:30 p.m. at the Changing Hands Bookstore (300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix AZ) to visit and enjoy food and beverages. The program begins at 6 p.m.